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China's Great Wall aiming to sell vehicles in US around 2015

Stop us if you've heard this one before: "The Chinese are coming." According to Automotive News, Great Wall Motor Co. plans to sell its vehicles in the US by around 2015. The Chinese automaker has been researching its planned expansion for the last two years, looking at everything from regulatory hurdles to establishing a dealer network, as well as customer needs and wants.

Although it isn't immediately clear what models the company plans to market here in the US, it is apparently looking at establishing a factory stateside. The company currently sells its wares in 76 countries and regions around the globe, but has yet to attempt to crack the US or Canada. Great Wall may be China's largest purveyor of SUVs, but it has a full lineup of models to choose from – it brought 26 vehicles to last weekend's press day for the Shanghai Motor Show, including a stand-alone section for its Haval brand of SUVs.

Having said all that, Great Wall is one of China's most respected and most financially established automakers, and it has a lot of experience building factories in other markets (admittedly mostly knock-down plants), as well as exporting vehicles. It seems all but inevitable that Chinese automakers will eventually offer vehicles to US consumers in real volume, but for the moment, there's still a lot of debate about how quickly that reality will set in. To wit, a recent study by Bernstein Research suggested that Chinese automakers still have a decade or more of development before they will be able to field globally competitive products.

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If manufacturers weren't willing to meet their demands then they just wouldn't sell in China. You want to live in a Democractic Republic then you shouldn't be asking for the government to dip it's hands into every business venture that enters the country. Be an American and welcome competition.

Chinese vehicles will be cheap for sure, but they will not be quality or any handling type vehicles. I am sure a Honda Accord, build quality and driving wise, would be better than any vehicle from China.

If its built in America I don't give a damn where the Parent company is located if your supplying good ol American jobs at decent pay I say welcome to America. To all the doubters thanks to re-regulation after decades of deregulation companies are now being forced to bring manufacturing back to America. So if this company is voluntarily going to build a factor that adds construction jobs on top of manufacturing jobs, again welcome to America. Would I buy a car from them.............Yes if it met all needs and was reliable, proven safe, and was good to look at.

Can\'t believe how many people are so against Chinese car companies. As if they\'re offensive to you personally. You know you have the freedom to NOT buy them, right? Will it really be detrimental to you or the car industry if they started selling cars here?
Are these not the same sentiments that were expressed when Hyundai started selling cars here (and probably Honda/Toyota before them)?

I think the intense emotional reaction many, including myself, have is why should we hand over yet another industry to a despotic communist government that murders and jails its citizens who speak out and doesn't play fair when it comes to trade? Do we have to be eating Soylent Green before we finally say BASTA to international corporations selling the American dream and soul?

In order for cars to be sold in the US, they have to pass safety tests. Great Wall currently sells in Australia and I'm assuming their safety standards are pretty rigid. You can get out of your bunker now.

People would rather pretend that today's poor Chinese product quality guarantees inferior future products, but this kind of denial is how people, corporations, and countries are caught off guard. Hopefully Western car corporations act with a bit more sophistication and competitive drive than the typical AB commenter.

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That camper truck actually looks pretty slick. I know there are a lot of people who dislike China for various reasons but I welcome the competition. That Steed/Wingle pickup truck looks just fine if it has the right price and quality on-par with other low-cost manufacturers.